Paavachi Usal (baked)

Paavachi usal is a dry stir-fry of pieces of bread - goes well as an afternoon snack with Indian tea.Very popular in Mumbai - in the essentially middle-class Maharashtrian family, it is associated as a great Sunday brunch (comfort family food). My mom would make this snack with utter perfection and it brings back great memories, my mom would know the way to her family's heart and mine with this snack. Life was much different then, you were more active, you walked more and this snack would not affect you due to your metabolic activity. With a more sedentary lifestyle, pouring my eyes into a bright laptop, with one toddler and another one on the way - it makes it hard to make it with the kind of ingredients my mom would make. So I chose to modify it a bit and voila - it turned out better than the original - but that is totally me and my taste. What made it different was the crispy texture the baked version gave. To some, the idea of  the drenched oil-soaked bread, tastes delicious but mine is much lighter, crisper and most importantly healthier!

All you need is some whole grain bread, some finely cut red onion (and tomatoes - lesser by the quantity if you want the tart taste, I use some light ketchup), some also use finely chopped potato (but that upto you as to how hungry you are!! I use it sometimes, sometimes I don't). i also add some finely chopped jalapeño for some kick. For the stir-fry you need the usual - some mustard seeds and cumin seeds, turmeric powder and if you like it spicy, some red chilli powder. for the dressing you need some fresh squeezed lime/lemon (that also adds to the tang) and some chopped cilantro.

Now that you have the ingredients, time for the challenging part...how do you know how well to bake the bread? You have to do the trial-an-error game a few times till you know how crispy or soft you want it. I usually make small pieces of the bread, spread them on an aluminium foil/bake-ware in the oven at 350F and spray some oil. Then garnish with a little oil and some chilli powder/maybe even a cajun spice! For me, it get slightly more brown than it is already but I check the crispiness after every 10-15 mins, the minute I feel it's done, it's out of the oven. the you take a shallow pan (something that can hold all the bread and leave you some room to stir the ingredients in!). If I add potato, I also bake it with some salt and spice. Crackle the cumin and mustard seeds over 1tbsp of oil, add the turmeric and the jalapeño and stir in the chopped red onion. After the onion is cooked midway add some salt. Then add the tomato/ketchup (1 tsp.) to taste. Make sure the onion is nice and soft and if the tomato is added, the juice mixes in nicely. Stir in the bread pieces slowly till everything mixes in and also the potato. add some lime juice (or lemon) and stir it in. I keep it covered for say, 15 mins for the bread to soak it all in. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro (and some sev for that extra crunch!) while serving....yummm!

Paavachi usal with some freshly squeezed grapefruit-orange-mint cocktail!

Thanks to Skillet stories on Facebook to revive me and blog back on track!